Leather-flexing machine



R. HART.

LEATHER FLEXING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Jun: 10, 191B.

1,355,965. Patented Oct. 19,1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET lguuantm R. HART.

LEATHER FLEXING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1919.

1,355,965; I Patented Oct. 19,1920.

v 2 SHEETSPSHEET 2.

lvwemtoz FPIATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD .HART,

OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB TOQADOLPH A. RALOFF, JB.,

OF THIENSVILLE, WISCONSIN.

LEATHER-FLEXING MACHINE.

T all hom it may concern:

arrangement of Fig. at isan end elevation with the dr1v- 7 Be it known that I, RICHARD HART, a citizen of the United States, residin at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and tate of Wisconsin, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Leather-Flexing Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for treating leather, with especial reference to machines for flexing leather.

The object of my invention is toprovide means for mechanically graining leather, whereby the processes heretofore carried on by hand may beefliciently performed by machinery and the work greatly expedited. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation of the left. hand end-portion of my improve machine as seen fromthe feeding in side.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View drawn on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation showing the the driving gears.

ing mechanism removed.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

A set of parallel, superposed rollers A and B are arranged to revolve in proximity to each other, and each of these rollers is provided with annular grooves aand b respectively. A roller C having its axis midway between the axes of the rollers-A andB and in the rear thereof is provided with a series of annular flanges 0- spaced apart in accordance with the distances between the grooves -a- 1n the rollers A'and the grooves Z in theroller B, the grooves in the respective rollers A and B being so disposed that the flanges C may register with them.' V

The three rollers A, B, and C are revolved in'the same direction. A strip or piece of leather D. which isto be flexed or grained is fed inwardly from the front sidebetween the rollers1A and B until its advancing margin strikes the edges of the circular flanges -0 on the roller C. The contacting surfaces of. these flanges move upwardly and carry the edge of the hide or pieceof leather into contact with, the periphery of the roller A whereupon this edge or margin of the hide is folded over the infeeding por= Specification of Letters Patent.

rear.

Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

Application filed June 10, 1918. Serial No. 239,157.

tion and carried outwardly from between the rollers A and-B on the same side thereof, (herein termed the front side of the machine), as indicated by the arrows applied to the leather strip in Fig. 2.

It is desirable that the rollers A and B should be made adjustable with reference to each other in order that they may be adjusted in greater or less proximity to each other in' accordance with the quality or thickness of the leather. I have therefore provided end standards E in which the shafts -F- and F- of the rollers A and B are mounted, suitable bearings being provided for that purpose. The bearings G of the bearing shaft F may be fixed to the standards, whereas the bearings G of the lower shaft F able in suitable slots H, the'walls of which constitute guiding members for the bearings G. These bearings at either end of the machine may be simultaneously raised or lowered by means of an adjustable beam or bar I mounted on a centrally disposed post J which may be actuated'by means of a lever K as indicated in Fig. 7 4:. The specific means for adjusting these bearings is not material tov my invention.

Roller C is preferably adjustably mounted in a horizontal plane, whereby the-folding point, or line along which the leather strip is folded, may be shifted toward the front or Normally, the folding point or line will be approximately'in the vertical plane which includes the axes of the rollers A and B or a little to the rear thereof, but with leather of differing quality or stilfness, it will be found desirable to shift the roller C forwardly .or rearwardly, and ordinarily it will be desirable to move it rearwardly for relatively stiff or thick. leather, whereas for the lighter or more flexible grades the roller C-should be adjusted forwardly, and the folding operation should take place substantially at the points where the rollers A and B approach most closely to each other. Figs. 2 and 4: show in full lines the position of the rollers C for easily flexed or relatively light leather and in dotted lines the position of the rollers'G for relatively heavy leather- It will be observed that the shaft ends or trunnions F"] of theroller C are mounted in suitable bearings G" in slots or guideways formed in the standards E. 3

Roller A: isrdriven from a vertically disare made vertically adjustposed shaft L through the beveled gear wheels M; Sleeve N on the same shaft carries a beveled gear wheel 0 which drives the shaft F of roller B through the intermeshing gear wheel 0. The sleeveN is vertically adjustable along the shaft L, being mounted between the sliding collars P and P carried by a bracket Q which is connected with the sliding bearing block G in which shaft F is journaled, the arrangement being such that shaft F may be raised or lowered without disengaging the motion-transmitting connections between it and the driving shaft L.

Motion is transmitted from the upper shaft F to the roller (1' through a train of gears R, R, and R, the gear wheel R con stituting a floating links S and S from the shafts F and F on which the other gear wheels R and R" are mounted. Therefore when the shaft F" of the roller C is moved horizontally, the intermediate floating gear wheel R will move inwardly or outwardly and maintain its driving relation in the train of gears R, R, and R" in any position of adjustment of the roller C.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Leather is passed by the bottom roller B in between this roller and the top roller A. When the edge of the leather reaches the roller C such edge will be carried upwardly against the roller A. The roller A will carry this edge outwardly above the lower incoming leather. This operation then continues, the leather being fed inwardly by the roller B, outwardly by the roller A, and upwardlyby the roller C. The bight or fold of the moving leather is retained between the rollers A and B without the use of an additional member or guide within the fold. This is made possible by positioning the fold line far enough rearwardly between the rolls A and B, by the adjustment of the roll C to suit the stiffness of the leather, that the. folded portion be caught in the form of a loop between the rolls A and B. In the case of some leathers, particularly the soft thin grades, the roller may be adjusted inwardly to its extreme position as shown in Figs. 2 and 4:, but for thicker or stiffer leather the roller C is moved back toward, or to, the dotted line position to allow the leather to expand along the folding line in the form of a small cylindrical roll beyond the most constricted portion at the plane common to the axes of the rolls A and B. 7

Nothing herein contained is intended to limit. the scope of my invention to the specific structure and arrangement described, the mechanism illustrated in the drawings being intended merely to indicate a convenient form of mechanism in which my invention may be embodied.

gear wheel supported by' roller,

- graining leather,

I claim 1. A leather flexing machine adapted for graining leather, comprising the combination of three parallel rollers, two of which are separated to permit the folding of sheets of leather in the space between them, each of saidtwo rollers being provided with opposing annular grooves in their peripheries, and the third roller having its axis located on one side of said two rollers substantially opposite the space between them, said third roller having flanges loosely entered in said annular grooves, and crossing said space near a plane common to the axes of the grooved rollers, the space between said grooved rollers on the opposite side of said plane being unobstructed to allow a leather sheet to fold or double uponiitself within said space, and means for revolving all of said rollers in the same direction, whereby leather sheets may be fed between the grooved rollers on the inwardly moving surface of one of them, and carried outwardly on the same sideof the'outwardly moving surface of the other grooved roller without friction and with a free bending movement. v

2. A leather flexing machine adapted for graining leather, comprising the combination of a set of parallel rollers having peripheral annular grooves opposing each other in the respective rollers, a'third roller the set in contact with having flanges loosely fitting within the grooves in the other two rollers, means for actuating all of said rollers in the same direction, and-means the grooved rollers into greater or less proximity to each other, at the will of the operator, the space between the grooved rollers on the side opposite that occupied by the flanged roller being wholly open and unobstructed to allow a free folding of leather sheets "when fed between said grooved rollers into contact with the flanges of the third roller.

3. A leather flexingmachine graining leather, tion of a set of parallel rollers having peripheral annular grooves opposing each other in the respective rollers, a third roller having flanges loosely fitting within the grooves in the other two rollers, means for actuating all of said rollers in the same direction, and means foradjusting the flanged with the peripheries of the flanges in greater or less proximity to a plane which includes the axes of the grooved rollers, the space between the grooved rollers on the side opposite that occupied by the flanged roller being wholly open and unobstructed to allow a free folding of leather sheets when fed between said grooved rollers into contact with the flanges ofthe third roller.

4. A leather flexing machine adapted for comprising the combinaadapted for for relatively adjusting tion'of a set of parallel rollers having peripheral annular grooves opposing each other in the respective rollers, a third roller having flanges loosely fitting within the grooves in the other two rollers, means for actuating all of said'rollers in the same direction, and means for relatively adjusting the grooved rollers into greater or less proximity to each other and also adjusting the flanged roller with the flanges entering the grooves of the other rollers to a greater or less distance from a line joining the centers of the other two rollers, the space between the grooved rollers on the side opposite that occupied by the flanged roller being wholly open and unobstructed to allow a free folding of leather sheets when fed between said grooved rollers into contact with the flanges of the third roller.

5. A leather flexing machine adapted for graining leather, comprising the combination of a set of parallel rollers having peripheral annular grooves opposing each other in the respective rollers, a third roller having flanges loosely fitting within the grooves in the other two rollers, means for adjusting said third roller, means for actuating all of said rollers in the same direction, a common driving shaft, and means for maintaining driving connection between said shaft and each of the rollers in the various positions of roller adjustment, the space between the grooved rollers on the side opposite that occupied by the flanged roller being wholly open and unobstructed to allow a free folding of leather sheets when fed between said grooved rollers into contact with the flanges of the third roller. (5. A leather flexing machine adapted for graininn' leather, by progressively folding a piece of leather upon itself, comprising the combination of a set of parallel rollers having generally cylindrical peripheral surfaces broken at intervals by annular grooves opposing each other in the respective rollers, a third roller having flanges loosely fitting within the annular grooves of the other two rollers, with the peripheries of said flanges in proximity to a plane which includes the axes of said other two rollers at a point midway between said rollers, means for adjusting said third roller, and means for actuating all of said rollers in the same direction, the space between the grooved rollers on the side opposite that occupied by the flanged roller being wholly open and unobstructed to allow a free folding of leather sheets when fed between said grooved rollers into contact with the flanges of the third roller.

'7. A leather flexing machine adapted for graining leather, comprising the combina tion of three parallel rollers, two of which are separated to permit the folding of sheets of leather in the space between them, each of said two rollers being provided with opnosing annular grooves in their peripheries, and the third roller having its axis located on one side of said two rollers substantially opposite the space between them, said third roller having flanges loosely entered in said annular grooves, and crossin said space near a plane common to the axes of the grooved rollers, the space between said groovedrollers on the opposite side of said plane being unobstructed to allow a leather sheet to fold or double upon itself within said space, means for revolving all of said rollers in the same direction, whereby leather sheets' may be fed between the grooved rollers on the inwardly moving surface of one of on the same side of the set in contact with the outwardly moving surface of the other grooved roller without friction and with a free bending movement, and means for adjusting said third roller toward and away from a plane common to the axes of the grooved rollers.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD HART.

Witnesses i O. C. WEBER, Lnvnnnrr Cf. WHEELER.

them, and carried outwardly v 

